Gaffe-prone Merkel rival drags down centre-left as vote looms

January 17, 2013|Reuters

By Erik Kirschbaum

OSTERHOLZ-SCHARMBECK, Germany, Jan 17 (Reuters) - PeerSteinbrueck looked uncomfortable as he waited to go onstage at asmall-town rally for a regional election on Sunday that couldmake or break his ambitions to be Germany's next leader.

No one was talking to the Social Democrat (SPD) candidatefor chancellor, whose blunders have sent his party into atailspin in national opinion polls and could drag Stephan Weil,SPD candidate for state premier in Lower Saxony, to anunexpected defeat on Sunday.

As Weil chatted and laughed with former chancellor GerhardSchroeder and ex-foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier,Steinbrueck put his hands in his pockets and searched in vainfor someone to talk to before the four marched into the hall.

Steinbrueck spoke for just 10 minutes, while the other SPDleaders hogged the stage - or perhaps just helped thegaffe-prone Steinbrueck from scoring more own goals.

In the four months since the SPD picked him to run againstAngela Merkel, the party's poll ratings have tumbled so far itcould cost Weil what was once seen as certain victory.

The 66-year-old former finance minister has become a liability after airing his opinion that chancellors areunderpaid and women like Merkel have an unfair advantage inpolitics due to their gender.

One national poll this week showed the SPD falling 20 pointsbehind Merkel's conservatives to 23 percent, an 18-month low. InLower Saxony, the SPD is about seven points behind the ChristianDemocrats (CDU), but Weil is still in the race thanks to hisallies the Greens, who put the combined centre leftneck-and-neck with the CDU and their Free Democrat (FDP)partners.

In Osterholz-Scharmbeck, a working class town of 30,000 nearthe Dutch border, Steinbrueck got a polite but cool reception,while Schroeder, Steinmeier and Weil enjoyed hearty cheers.

"Steinbrueck has made a lot of stupid comments lately," saidAndrea Reese, 47, a clerical worker who was surprised to findout that Steinbrueck was the fourth speaker, added at the lastminute. She said she came to see Weil, Schroeder and Steinmeier.

"The things he's been saying and doing aren't what you'dexpect from an SPD candidate," she added. "I thought he'd be agood candidate and never expected to see it go wrong like this."

Steinbrueck had been supposed to help Weil win Sunday'selection, a victory in Germany's fourth most populous state onJan. 20 that the SPD hoped to use as a springboard to winningthe big prize in September's federal election.

REGRETS

Merkel's ally in Lower Saxony, state premier DavidMcAllister, told the Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung newspaper onMonday he hoped Steinbrueck would make more campaign appearancesand so raise the chances of a conservative victory.

"I'm not here to help McAllister. Where would you get anidea like that?" Steinbrueck told Reuters after the rally.

"At times I've regretted somewhat that I've beenmisunderstood, either maliciously or through negligence,"Steinbrueck said. "I've never said I wanted higher pay forpoliticians. I was only comparing wages. The matter is closed."

Weil said he was glad Steinbrueck and others from Berlinwere joining him on the campaign trail in Lower Saxony, a vaststate in northwest Germany with more than 6 million voters.

"The issue has been totally overblown," Weil told Reuters."People in Lower Saxony don't care about all that. PeerSteinbrueck and others from Berlin are helping me."

But it was a stark contrast to the conservative campaign,where Merkel, who enjoys approval ratings much higher than herparty, is the undisputed main attraction. The crowds atMcAllister's rallies have also been larger than for Weil, themayor of state capital Hanover.

Steinbrueck has spent much of the Lower Saxony campaign atclosed-door "living room" meetings with groups of 10 ordinarypeople for direct conversations "unfiltered by the media". It isan unorthodox strategy in the week before a tight election.

Many voters in Osterholz-Scharmbeck, a well-kept town 20 kmnorth of Bremen, said Steinbrueck's blunders were on theirminds.

COULD HE BOW OUT?

"He doesn't have a clue about what ordinary people gothrough," said Martin Hof, a pensioner on a tight budget. Hecalled Steinbrueck a "nightmare" candidate and was angry abouthis earning 1.25 million euros as an after-dinner speaker overthe last three years while serving as a member of parliament.

The SPD selected Steinbrueck despite the fact that he losthis only election for state premier of neighbouring NorthRhine-Westphalia in 2005. SPD leader Sigmar Gabriel andSteinmeier were also possible chancellor candidates but optedout, meaning Steinbrueck was chosen by default.